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I'm a writer working on a story about if it's a good idea for sellers to get a home inspection before listing and I was hoping to interview some real estate professionals who reccomend doing this and why and/or who have had sales fall apart or nearly fall apart over something that could have been taken care of if the seller had paid for an inspection before listing. You can contact me at richard.hazeltine@move.com
Richard, I believe that it is a good idea for sellers to have an inspection prior to putting their home on the market, and make the corrections correctly, but their way. When I sold my home recently (last June in chesterfield, Va), I had a home inspection. Had a couple of issues that we quickly fixed. When the home inspector came for the buyers, nothing, nothing was on the report... We sailed through. and closed quickly.
In this new buyers market, I am finding that buyers want the home they are purchasing to be pristine. They feel that if they are paying that much for a home (even with seller concessions), it better be nice and they don't want to do any work. So the better a home owner can get their home for showings, the quicker it can sell, usually a quicker sale will bring more money than a later sale.
A pre-inspected house shows the buyer that the seller is serious, and has taken care of whatever issues were brought forward in the inspection.
Relocation companies have been pre-inspecting houses for decades.
Having a pre-inspection, in no way, shape or form, replaces the buyer's own inspection.
With foreclosures on the rise, I fully expect that lender owned properties will follow suit. They are already painting, carpeting and putting in new appliances.
Since when does Move.com give home sellers advice?
I pay for a home inspection for my sellers when I list their home. The inspection gives us an opportunity to know what needs to be taken care of, and therefore shelters my sellers from difficult inspection addendum negotiations after ratifiying a contract...preserving the sales price for them.
I agree it's a good idea for the sellers to get a pre-listing inspection so they can fix whatever needs to be done. The reason is that something that may cost, say $200 to fix in actuality, buyers get spooked about and think the same repair will cost ten times as much to fix. This is bad when you're trying to get your price.
The same applies if you need new carpeting and such.
Here in Las Vegas we rarely see a home more than 20 years old.
In this marketplace a pre-inspection is meaningless. You agent can tell you at lest 90% of what will be found and the client knew about 90% of that.
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There well be broken roof tiles. Ninety eight percent of the homes in Las Vegas with tile roofs have broken tiles. And no one has looked closely at the other two percent.
There will be electrical box that are uncovered, broken, or loose.
At least two faucets/shower heads will leak or operate impropely.
In every house at least one mechanical sink stopper does not operate properly.
Pet doors to garages violate fire codes. (Never fix...50 50 the new owner will want it violation and all.) And fold down stairs in garage ceilings also violate fire codes...80% of buyers will accept them.
One or more sinks will have a leak under them. Watch refrigerators as well. This is M word stuff so clean it up before anybody inspects it.
On a slab house the periphery will leak in at least one location. Check for distorted baseboards or rusted carpet tack strips.
50 50 there is a missing piece of insulation or a loose duct in the attic.
Vacuum breakers on external water faucets never work.
At least one sprinkler sprays the stucco.
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Should you find and fix these? Well I would certainly do all the ones that involve water...the M word...but the others? I am convince that every roof in Las Vegas has at least six broken tiles at all times. Even right after the roof guy has certified he has got them all. So maybe better to let them find the ones they can see and fix quick?
To bottom line it I know of no case where a pre-inspection would have prevented a big problem. Not that there were no probkems. We have lost at least six deals in the last five years to mold alone. But I think in all but one case the mold was known to the owner. The other case it was not but it would not have been detected in any normal inspection.
In fact in my marketplace the only seller inspection that might make sense would be a good mold guy. Note however there is a degree of risk. Mold, once detected by a professional, is forever...
All negatives are a positive to a buyer-That's how we handle the situation. Sellers generally are aware of adverse situations or at least are suspect of them. The reason why sellers don't want to have a home inspection and correct problems is the expense of the inspection and subsequent repairs(usually nominal) and the inconvenience (usually the true culprit).
So when we represent buyers we look for problems and potential problems and adjust our offer accordingly.
Remember this-When someone gets to the point of selling, mentally-They have already moved. They want to get on with life and their current situation is a anchor prohibiting progress.
Buyers solve this problem and the lower the price the quicker the problem can be solved.
When representing sellers-We highly encourage a home inspection. First and foremost-We want to make sure that the house "is" as we think it "is"-Solid!! Secondly-we want to remove all tangible objections from the buyer. We defeat the price objection because we price a home fair and accurate.
So for the buyer-This only leaves one objection and that would be if the home is just, "not their cup of tea" and there's nothing we can do about that.
Bill
I pay for a home inspection for my sellers when I list their home. The inspection gives us an opportunity to know what needs to be taken care of, and therefore shelters my sellers from difficult inspection addendum negotiations after ratifiying a contract...preserving the sales price for them.
It sounds like you really give your clients a good deal for their trust in you. I did have one agent offer here in Tempe, AZ to pay our home inspection to represent us as the sellers agent. We are going to have our home inspected next week in preperation for possible selling, and the cost is less then $350 which I think is a good deal. I just wish they could do the fixes needed too.
All negatives are a positive to a buyer-That's how we handle the situation. Sellers generally are aware of adverse situations or at least are suspect of them. The reason why sellers don't want to have a home inspection and correct problems is the expense of the inspection and subsequent repairs(usually nominal) and the inconvenience (usually the true culprit).
So when we represent buyers we look for problems and potential problems and adjust our offer accordingly.
Remember this-When someone gets to the point of selling, mentally-They have already moved. They want to get on with life and their current situation is a anchor prohibiting progress.
Buyers solve this problem and the lower the price the quicker the problem can be solved.
When representing sellers-We highly encourage a home inspection. First and foremost-We want to make sure that the house "is" as we think it "is"-Solid!! Secondly-we want to remove all tangible objections from the buyer. We defeat the price objection because we price a home fair and accurate.
So for the buyer-This only leaves one objection and that would be if the home is just, "not their cup of tea" and there's nothing we can do about that.
Bill
Excellent information, Bill.
Good for a rep point.
I encourage presales inspections because of the Cost of Repair Contingency in Alternative 1 of the standard NC Realtors' Offer to Purchase and Contract.
Repair costs taken off the table prior to listing and contract will not contribute to reaching the threshold where the Buyer can unilaterally walk away from the transaction. Again, this is a North Carolina convention.
IOW, ALL REAL ESTATE IS LOCAL! This question can be answered differently, yet accurately, in different states, due to variations in state laws and local customs.
I have been a home inspector for over 25 yrs . in Ma. and have recomended to realtors to consider pushing the seller to having an inspection. they continue to resist the suggestion . the general reply they say is im selling my house why should i have expenses ? I suggest your house is an asset and you should know it value and or its defects . Only then can a tru value be estabilished . an example might be an expensive necklace or dimond ring if you purchased the jewlry they apraised it and made you aware of it perfectiness or imperfections color karat settings quality of gold etc. and then there is the insurance to protect those assets. in most cases the house is worth much more than the jewlry. Now i have been told that attys. suggest ignorance is best when a home owner is selling that way they cant be held responsible .so they tend to suggest against a pre inspection for thier client . Lets say im selling my house I 1st get an atty. then a realtor to list my property and I tell my realtor that im going to have a pre home insp. and use that report to consider what might be discovered at an inspection . If there are things that need repais or replacement a dollar value should be associated with the items ,and a consideration should be made to a reduction in the selling price of the home . with this done i would say to my realtor you said my house should sell for x and i have deducted $ from x to arive at at selling price x-$ please explain to the buyers rep. these facts and recomend they have there own home inspect . If additional item are found on the inspection then its back to the negotiation.
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